Updates! Yammering! Stories!

Why are you even reading this?!? There's a brewing competition for you to enter! You, yes you, could be the winner of our inaugural brewing contest! Your beer could become our FlyPA! Go here for the info! Then go formulate your recipe! Brew your beer!

If you are still reading, I'll just take it on faith that you've already done the above suggestions and continue on with my regularly scheduled blathering.

But seriously, enter the contest.

A quick update for the Beer with the Board event this Thursday - we will be at Elliott Bay Brewing, but we're at the Burien location. It's a little farther for some folks than the West Seattle location, but it is bigger and they take reservations. So come on out, we'll be there around 7:00. As before, wear your t-shirt and win all sorts of compliments on your choice of wardrobe and keen beer sense!

I feel like I want to give you some unasked for advice. Why? Because I can blog it! I'll wrap it up in a story so it sounds less preachy.

So I don't think I'm going to brew an IPA for the FlyPA contest. You might be thinking "But why?!? You should brew for it!" You should be thinking "Alright, less competition means a better chance that I'll win!"

Truth be told, I don't even have an IPA recipe. Maybe it's because I'm not from the Pacific Northwest; maybe it's my poor upbringing. I'm just not gaga over IPAs. I know a lot of folks are (especially here; you guys voted to do an IPA for the first contest!). I'll usually go for a different style for my first choice.

Before you jump to any conclusions, let me say that I like IPAs. There times when a crisp IPA is just what the doctor ordered. Black Raven's 'Trickster IPA' is like drinking a pine tree - a glorious, glorious, beer-soaked pine tree! However, it's not my favorite style - I lack the facilities to appreciate a triple-digit-IBU brew. At some point, the super-hoppiness is all that I taste, and the nuances and subtleties are lost.  Let me semi-change topics, and come back around in a moment.

When homebrewing, it's very easy to make really strong beers. "Well, I've got this extra malt, I might as well throw it in!" "Why make a 5% ABV brew when I can make an 8%?!" Many of my first beers were this way. I'm sensible. I didn't want to waste malt! However, my brews this year have been lower ABV on purpose. I've been doing a lot of 5 and 6 percent beers because, well, I find them more challenging. I'm trying to get certain malt or hop flavors to come out. I"m brewing with a bit of restraint in the name of experimentation!

I could liken it to playing an electric guitar - sure, you can turn the volume up to 11 and play until your eyes bleed. But you can really only play one way when it's that loud, and it'll leave you deaf. If you are playing at 6, that's still plenty loud but you can play with dynamics. You can play delicate, quiet parts as well as loud trashy bits and sing-along power choruses. (Believe me, 6 is pretty loud on most amps!)

What am I getting at? Restraint. A little restraint goes a long way. If I were going to craft an IPA for the contest, I'd dry hop with Citra hops. Why? I really like 'em for dry hopping and I have some in my freezer. I'd probably use Centennial for my bittering hop, because I like 'em for that. I'd probably use Willamette and Cascade as aroma because they are local and I dig 'em. I'd try to bring out to florals by using most of the hops in the 30 minute and lower times.

For malts, I'd probably go with a mix of 20, 40, and 80 crystal malt, to try and get some depth and some nice color. Two row, of course, and maybe something weird, because I'm a homebrewer - maybe some biscuit or honey malt or a touch of wheat or rye.

My aim would be balance, with some interesting malty and hoppy notes that change as the beer passes from the glass to your liver; a depth of flavor if you will. It'd be a noble goal. Get it? Like noble hops?!? Eh?! Eh?!

Louder isn't necessarily better (and often is much worse). So too with your IPAs, which soon will be pushing and shoving to be our FlyPA. Make a beer that folks will keep coming back for! Good luck with your beers!

For the record, if the brewing contest was for Hefeweizen, it'd be all over for you. My Citrus Mountain Hefeweizen is good enough for weddings! It's like taking a trip through a citrus mountain! It'd win easily!